Channel 4 will air the clash between England and Scotland in primetime on its main channel next year after securing rights to the UEFA Women’s Euro tournament.
The two home nations will play each other in their opening matches at 7.45pm on 19 July 2017.
The game is one of several that the broadcaster has committed to showing on C4, including at least one semi-final on 3 August and the final on 6 August. England and Scotland’s other group games will be against Spain and Portugal.
The broadcaster has full tournament rights and will reveal which other games it will air, and on which channel, closer to the summer.
It could choose to air some coverage on More 4, for example, or conceivably stream games on All 4.
The coverage will be based on a global feed, but C4 will need to appoint an independent producer to manage its coverage and pull together presenting and pundit teams.
The BBC had the rights to the previous Euros tournament in 2013 and screened games on BBC3. The corporation also showed the Women’s World Cup in 2015, with some major games airing on BBC2 and BBC3.
On 9 June, for example, England’s opening World Cup game against France was watched by 1.5m (8.8%) on BBC2, with a peak of 2.4m (11.8%).
England’s third place play-off against Germany was watched by 1.9m (13%) on BBC3, with a peak of 2.5m (21%).
The 2017 tournament takes place in Holland.
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